Portland Gets a Cycle Track, and All That Comes With It

In Portland, Oregon, already one of America’s best cycling cities, a
new amenity was unveiled this past weekend: a cycle track, or
physically separated bike lane, near Portland State University. For
several blocks, it provides a protected place for bikers to ride — by
taking a lane from motor vehicle traffic and changing the place where
cars are supposed to park.

seemed to actually encourage negative feedback when she said on their
6:00 newscast: "If you love the idea, that’s great — but if you don’t,
contact the mayor’s office."

On
other local media websites, the comments are flying in. The majority of
them that I’ve read are negative. There are all the usual concerns that
bikes are getting a free ride, that cars are being
relegated to the margins, that the city is going insane, and so on.

The Oregonian’s coverage led to so many thoughtfully negative comments that reporter Joe Rose decided to post another story on his Hard Drive blog to stick up for the project. Rose dusted off the old “Green Dividend” study
by Portland economist Joe Cortright (which shows that our region saves
$2.6 billion annually because we drive fewer miles on average).

Even here on BikePortland, several commenters are staunchly opposed to the project.

To
combat concerns and negative feedback, the City stresses that this is
nothing more than an "experiment." I wonder though, what would happen
if they heard more negative than positive feedback on their experiment?
Is the City losing the PR battle on this one?

So
what do you think? Are cycle tracks worth the backlash they sometimes
inspire? Will they ever become common enough — as they are in many
European cities — that they will be widely accepted, and respected, by
users of all different modes? Or are you one of the people who opposes
physically segregated bicycle facilities altogether?

More coverage of the cycle track can be found at Portland Transport,
which hails it as the harbinger of "the second era of Portland
bicycling infrastructure." Lots of interesting comments there as well.

A related post from the Streetsblog Network today: the FABB Blog
links to a report that says local governments should do a better job of
providing bicycle infrastructure to help prevent childhood obesity.

Civilized countries have physically separated bike lanes. In a decade we’ll wonder what all the fuss was about.

http://www.livablestreets.com/people/Green_Idea_Factory Todd Edelman

The main problem with some physically-separated bike lanes is when they are implemented at the expense of space for pedestrians. On really wide streets like the one which is the subject of the article that will tend not to happen, but on two-lane roads/streets pedestrian space is more at risk, especially if car parking is preserved.